Robots lead to big production improvements
September 24th 2008 A new robotic routing system from KMT Robotic Solutions has helped Factory Five Racing, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of component car kits, to improve part quality by more than 200% and reduce trim time by more than 95%.
Before the KMT robotic system was installed at the Factory Five Racing plant in Massachusetts , the company used to trim fibreglass and plastic reinforced kit car panels by hand using routers and trim fixtures. The hand trimming process and accidental fixture movement created inconsistencies in quality and contributed to a high reject rate.
The fully-enclosed robotic router system from KMT Robotic Solutions offers the flexibility to trim each of Factory Five’s seven unique parts. The system features a rail-mounted M-710iB FANUC robot with parts presented to the robot on a fixture cart equipped with a uniquely-encoded ID tag that identifies the trimming program for the part, greatly improving quality and reducing production time. The interchangeable router bits are powered by a 7 kW electric spindle.
With the help of the KMT Robotic Solutions system, the process of trimming four sets of panels (eight doors, four bonnets and four boots) that used to take 7.5 hours to complete now takes just 24 minutes. This achievement has allowed Factory Five’s moulding department to increase quality and productivity.
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